My Guardian Devil

Chapter 47 -- A Mealymouthed Felicity

"And did you ever learned from your mistakes?"

"We all learned from our mistakes. Don't we? I guess, I also learned, somehow. Gano'n naman talaga dapat diba? Nadapa ka, nasugatan ka, pero tatayo kapa rin at pagagalingin ang sugat para sa susunod hindi mo na ulitin ang nagawa mo. Pero minsan, hindi mo maiwasang hindi dumaan dun sa daan kung sa'n ka nadapa. Iiwasan mo naman, kaso talagang madadapa kapa din kahit ayaw mo. Okay lang, sige, tayo parin hangga't hindi ka natututo. Gano'n naman kasi talaga ang buhay."

"Mukhang madami ka ng napagdaanan."

"More than you could ever imagine. Hhmm.. at heto pa pala, kapag nagsama-sama sila nina Papa at ng kapatid ko na si Haven, naku! Kawawa ako, kasi wala akong kakampi. Lahat sila binu-bully ako. Lalo na yung kapatid ko na si Haven." Sabay gigil nang maalala niya ang kanyang kapatid. "Parang mas matanda pa siya sa'kin kung sermonan ako. Pero mas galit sila dun sa nanakit sa'kin. There's this one time, nakita niya'kong umiiyak sa kwarto, ang ginawa niya tinapon niya lahat ng mga regalo sa'kin ni Br—" Bigla siyang tumigil sa pagbanggit ng pangalan nang maalala niya kung sino ito.

"Sino?"

"Uhm..." Bumuntong hininga siya at umiwas ng tingin kay Ryle.

"Your ex-boyfriend, I assumed."

"Uhm.. Ah.. i—ikaw? I mean, can you tell me something about your family? Your parents?" Pag iiba nito ng usapan.

"I guess, this is the stage of getting to know each other?" Natatawa nitong sabi.

"Yeah. Why not? I— I just want to know you more. If... if that's all right."

Tumango tango si Ryle. "Ofcourse. Ofcourse. Hhmm.. my Mom lives in Quezon City with my younger sister Rozanne and my younger brother."

"How old?"

"My sister just turned 21 and working as a Nurse at Medical Pavillion Hospital. My brother, well, uhm.." Napayuko siya ng banggitin ang kanyang kapatid na lalake. "He's uhm.. 15 years old."

"And I assumed he's already in College?"

Umiling ng bahagya si Ryle. "As far as we want him to send to school, he just can't. Cerebral Palsy. He has cerebral palsy." Malungkot nitong pahayag.

"Oh! So—sorry."

"No. It's okay. His name is Seth and swear, he's the most sweetest brother in the world." Napapangiti nitong pahayag. "I just miss him so much. Kahit na araw-araw naman kaming nag vi-video call, iba parin kapag personal na nakikita."

"Why don't you just visit them? QC isn't that far here."

"Right. If I could just visit them." He sigh. "Pero hindi kami magka sundo ng asawa ni Mama. My stepfather. Seth's father."

"Is that even matter? I mean, ang kapatid mo ang ipinunta mo do'n at hindi naman ang Stepfather mo. I can't see anything wrong with that."

"Sana nga gano'n lang kadali ang lahat but its not. I don't want to widen the gap between us. It will surely hurt my Mom. At ayokong makitang nasasaktan ang Mom ko kaya ako na lang ang umiiwas. Its complicated, Helaena."

"Okay. If you say so. But I'm praying one day, everything will be fine between you and your Stepfather. Nothing is impossible, Ryle."

"We're on the same page."

"Eh and Dad mo? Your real Dad?"

Nagkibit balikat lang itong si Ryle sa huling tanong ni Helaena. "I don't know. Never heard of him for as long as I can remember. But that's okay, we survived without him."